Get ‘The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection’ for free this month
It seems as if this week is a good one to get stuff on the cheap or even for free. First, Marvel announced a promo yesterday which gave access to its Unlimited comics service for 99 cents, and now EA has quietly revealed that it’s giving away copies of The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection. You’ll need to have Origin, EA’s software distribution platform, installed on your machine to take advantage of this deal, but it’s as easy as entering a code for old and new users alike. Just don’t expect EA to keep supporting the classic game after you install it, since the publisher brought closure to that a few days ago. The Windows download on Origin will be available until July 31st at 1:00AM ET, which means there’s plenty of time to let it all sink in and cancel whatever you had planned for the weekend.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Source: EA
Twitch lets you host another channel’s stream while you’re on a burrito break
When you log off for dinner or put down the controller for some shut-eye, Twitch now lets you keep the game streaming going with its new Host Mode. The function keeps your channel’s chat up and running, but embeds a video of the action from another user’s session or event while you’re taking a breather. Viewing stats are still compiled for the original broadcaster and the option can be triggered with a simple chat command. For now though, Host Mode is only available via the web interface.
Source: Twitch
UK politician calls for in-game thieves to be prosecuted like real criminals
In some of the most popular multiplayer role-playing games, like World of Warcraft (the NSA’s favorite), in-game characters and items can change hands for substantial amounts of real money. So when a gamer is relieved of valuable loot or accounts by scammers or thieves, should these online opportunists be considered criminals? It’s a question one UK politician wanted to address in Parliament yesterday, as he called for real-world sentences to be handed out for these virtual crimes. The politician, a WoW player himself, requested the UK Justice Minister accelerate legislation to that effect, arguing that gamers are entitled to the same amount of legal protection. He added that only serious and/or serial offenders be targeted, though, rather than throwing the book at anyone who’s committed a minor indiscretion. The Justice Minister did say online fraud or theft can carry severe sentences, but that it’s ultimately up to courts to decide on the punishment.
While it might sound daft, prosecuting someone for pinching a magical sword inside a computer game, we doubt the person who’s just seen $1000 disappear from their inventory shrugs it off so lightly. It’s a legal grey area, as courts have to decide whether items that are purely digital, and the time spent questing for such epic loot, have any real value. Last year in China, the ringleader of a group that bought stolen WoW accounts and stripped them of items for profit received a two-year jail sentence. Also, prior to that, one kid in the Netherlands was beaten and threatened with a knife IRL until he gave another RuneScape player valuable items, with the offender given a community service order as punishment. As that particular incident shows, sometimes it’s not “just a game.”
Filed under: Gaming
Source: The Independent
You can pilot one of the robots from ‘Pacific Rim’ in virtual reality at Comic-Con
We’re not sure how many of the new Oculus Rift VR kits have shipped out to developers already, but it looks like a healthy amount are in San Diego right now. That’s where Comic-Con is happening this week and, following the X-Men VR demo we already heard about, Legendary Pictures and Oculus have teamed up for Pacific Rim: Jaeger Pilot. It lets attendees take control of the 250-foot tall Jaeger “Gipsy Danger” (no drift connection necessary) and do battle in a virtual reality combat simulator against the kaiju Knifehead (the first one you see in the movie). The whole experience is built in Unreal Engine 4 using the same assets Industrial Light & Magic worked with for the movie. Sure, you’ve seen the movie, and maybe even in IMAX 3D, but we’re pretty sure even Guillermo del Toro’s directing tricks can’t add up to feeling like you’re there, fighting an 8,700 ton monster off the coast of Alaska. It’s all in Legendary’s booth #3920 for all four days the show is open, from Thursday through Sunday. Don’t have a ticket? There’s a video preview embedded after the break, but it can’t compare to diving into a VR world with Oculus — maybe we’ll be able to enjoy it at home by April 2017 when Pacific Rim 2 arrives.
Join the fight! ‘Drift with the Rift’ exclusively at the @Legendary booth (#3920) & prepare to pilot a 250ft Jaeger. http://t.co/C6CeXE7ldp
– Legendary (@Legendary) July 24, 2014
Filed under: Displays, Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
The new $350 Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is now shipping
We were expecting to see the new iteration of the Oculus Rift arrive on developer’s doorsteps earlier this month, but unfortunately it hit a couple of delays. Road to VR points out a Reddit thread where pre-orderers confirmed their credit cards have been charged ahead of shipping. Community manager cyberreality confirmed in the thread that it’s happening, and the “DK2″ hardware we (and Mark Zuckerberg) were so impressed by is ready to roll. The initial production run is only supposed to cover some 10,000 of the 45,000 units ordered, so for some your wait is just beginning (until next month). In the meantime, you can check out our hands-on video of the latest and greatest in virtual reality after the break (or the new X-Men related Comic-Con demo) — hopefully Sony’s Project Morpheus team responds to this as quickly as they did on Blu-ray 3D.
Filed under: Displays, Gaming, HD, Facebook
Via: Road to VR
Source: Reddit
Sony’s $15 million PSN hacking settlement pays out in free games
Way back in 2011, PlayStation Network services and websites went dark due to “an external intrusion.” Anonymous claimed responsibility, names, passwords and possible payment information was lost in a data breach, and everybody in general had a bad time. Sony apologized for the fiasco with a “Welcome Back” package, handing out free (older) games to anybody willing to turn their PlayStation back on — but that wasn’t the end of it. The company still had to face a class action lawsuit for losses caused by identity thefts and the needs of gamers who failed to participate in its apology giveaway before it closed. Now the company has reached a $15 million settlement. The short version? More free stuff.
Claimants who didn’t participate in the original “Welcome Back” program will be offered one of 14 PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Portable games and three PS3 themes, or a three-month subscription to PlayStation Plus. It’s not all giveaways, though — folks with documented identity theft charges will be able to reap up to $2,500 per claim, and users of Sony’s old Qricity service will be able to get a month of Music Unlimited service in recompense. MMO gamers who lost time in virtual worlds are eligible for a $4.50 credit to their SOE accounts, too. You can check out the full court decision below. Forgot all about the 2011 breach? Well, “welcome back.”
Sony agrees to $15M settlement
Filed under: Cameras, HD, Sony
Via: Polygon
Source: Washington Examiner
Virtual reality project has you reaching for the stars
It’s understandable if having a homicidal alien stab you in the chest isn’t your cup of tea, so, thankfully, there are more than a few examples of virtual reality that aren’t nearly as gruesome. Take The Shoebox Diorama, for example. It’s a series of interactive illustrations for the Oculus Rift, each with a different theme; the latest is about sitting atop a tower of chairs, called The Great Gottlieb. As Kill Screen notes, developer Daniel Ernst describes its premise thusly: this mountain of seats was built by the greatest circus acrobat who ever lived because he wanted a little peace of mind. While seated you can even reach out and grab for a star in the 3D sky, like the kid up above is doing. Sounds pretty tranquil, no? To complete the effect, a recent installation was erected (there’s a video of it embedded below), where players sat atop a real stack of chairs and had a fan blowing at the back of their head.
If you’re a bit on the acrophobic side (afraid of heights), perhaps Ernst’s other Shoeboxes would be a more tempting, including one where you wake up and look out the window to see multicolored Tetris blocks dropping lazily from the sky. That sounds infinitely more pleasant than death by xenomorph if you ask us.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Via: Kill Screen, Kotaku
Source: The Shoebox Diorama (YouTube)
LG wants you to play games through your phone case
Are you an impulsive gamer? So impulsive that you can’t even wait to unlock your phone before you start playing? If so, LG is entirely willing to cater to that (frankly disconcerting) behavior. The company has just launched Puppy Pop, the first game designed to work with the G3′s QuickCircle case. It’s a clever demo of what that round case window allows, although it’s only a game in the loosest sense of the word. All you’re doing is matching as many puppy heads as you can before time runs out — it might do for a quick diversion at the bus stop, but it’s not hard to see this wearing thin over time. You can grab the app today if you’re curious, although you might want to wait for more substantial titles down the road — or better yet, unlock your G3 and make full use of the phone you paid for.
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Peripherals, Mobile, LG
Source: LG Newsroom
Valve’s Steam Controller now has a thumbstick
It seems like every time we see Valve’s Steam Controller, it gets a little more traditional. First the company abandoned the gamepad’s ambitious touchscreen for eight buttons (a makeshift d-pad and the standard X, Y, B and A toggles) — now it seems to be trading in four of those for an analog stick. Both SteamDB and a user on the Facepunch forums pulled the above image the company’s latest Steam client beta, revealing a controller almost identical to the company’s current iteration save for the aforementioned change.
It’s not clear if the image is just a design or if Valve has actually produced prototypes of the new layout, but it’s not an unwelcome change: as innovative as the controller’s tactical pads are, we found they had a tendency to feel a little alien under the thumb. For most games an analog stick is a sufficient replacement for the d-pad it supplants, and it would also serve as an alternative control for folks who can’t stomach using the left touchapd for movement. While the nod to traditional controllers is nice, we hope Valve doesn’t slide too far into familiar territory — console gamepads already have that ground covered.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: NeoGaf
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